Letter of Support, Improvements to the Healthcare System

I write to convey our support for your December 20th discussions around improvements to the healthcare system. Specifically, we hope that an agreement can be reached to pass several bipartisan bills in the House and Senate; H.R. 3708, the Primary Care Enhancement Act of 2019; H.R. 4742, to impose a tax on nicotine used in vaping; H.R. 4716, The Inhaler Coverage and Access Now (I CAN) Act; and, H.R. 1922, The Restoring Access to Medication Act.

As you know, these bills are paid for, meaning they do not violate PAY GO rules, are bi-partisan and three of them passed the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously: the Primary Care Enhancement Act, the Restoring Access to Medication Act and the Access Now (I CAN) Act.

A disappointingly small number of healthcare bills are bi-partisan; even fewer are voted unanimously out of Committee. Rewarding the efforts of those Members who labored to produce unanimous, bi-partisan bills with passage would be a wonderful and encouraging sign that progress is possible in healthcare.

Finally, a great deal of effort has gone into ending surprise medical billing and repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) “Cadillac Tax.” In fact, the July vote repealing the tax in the House was overwhelming – 419 to 6. We strongly encourage you to include these measures with the HSA provisions mentioned above. We appreciate the difficult work facing each of you and are ready to assist in these important matters.